How should we explain the decline in levels of membership of political Essay

How should we explain the decline in levels of membership of political parties across most western democracies - Essay Example Individuals receive support from the state at the expense of accepting an increase in regulation, mostly with respect to the exercise of conducting elections (Albertazzi,D. & McDonnell,D. 2010)This piece of work permits an extensive investigation about the levels of party membership across vast democracies in Europe. Along with a robust exploration on the difference in the patterns of party association existing between older democracies and the newly created ones along with the post-communist democracies as well (Rozenvalds, 2005, p.163). According to Crouch (2008), Party membership levels in the post communist democracies have remained substantially below those in the established Western politics Definitely the novelty of these democracies, the weakening or elimination of traditional cleavages that resulted from the attempt by communism to construct a classless society along with the fact that party organizations surged in a perspective in which they could already gain the benefits of modern communications networks in their efforts of seeking support, are likely to have dispirited their efforts to put up mass organizations for a longer term (Putnam, Robert 2000) This is also probable and obvious to be the same case in the southern European polities that surged from authoritarian rule in the 1970s (Crouch 2008) we will continue to anticipate that the newer the democracy, the smaller is likely to be the membership level. Based on the recent data available from many sources, party membership in contemporary European democracies produce figures of total party membership expressed in raw numbers and as a percentage of electorate (M/E) which is an indicator which is more suitable for cross-national comparisons. Activists are authorized to monitor and implement heavy burden of regulations who end up being uncompensated for their (Whiteley, 2014, p.102). These advances have turned political parties to public utilities to say

Regression analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Regression analysis - Essay Example The change in the dependent value for a variation in the independent value is estimated in the regression analysis. Multiple regression takes into consideration all the assumptions of correlation. It takes place when the independent variable is dichotomy. In the above prescribed case, if the increase of men and women were to be considered separately; Multiple regression is used. In the case of linear correlation no power terms are found as it will not reflect curvilinear changes in independent variables. In the context of multiple regression the powers to the variables were found to represent the curvilinear variations in independent and dependent variables. Correlation is the percent of variance in the dependent explained by the given independent when all other independents are allowed to vary. In the final result the magnitude of r2 reflects not only the unique covariance it shares with the dependent, but uncontrolled effects on the dependent attributable to covariance the given in dependent shares with other independents in the model. For example in the above case the increase of male female population can be taken as covariance. 2. During the years 1790 to 1820, the correlation between the number of churches built in New England and the barrels of Rum imported into the region was a perfect 1.0.

Coca Cola Drinks In A Time Of Economic Difficulty Business Essay

Coca Cola Drinks In A Time Of Economic Difficulty Business Essay Always Coca-Cola! This slogan was used in 2003 by the Coca-Cola Company, but years later it still resounds. Despite, the continuous changing of consumers needs, wants and lifestyles, economic down-turns and increasing competition in the marketplace, Coca-Cola has managed to always take first place as the worlds most valuable brand, since 2001. (Interbrand Best Global Brand Surveys, 2001-2010) This report is intended to explain and analyse why the sales of Trademark Coca-Cola drinks, namely Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Light/Diet Coke were all immune to the economic recession. The analysis will be within a consumer behaviour scope. Inevitably, the relationship of consumer behaviour to other disciplines will be seen. First, there will be a brief history on Coca-Cola and a review of its performance over the last 4 years. Subsequently, the Consumers Buying Decision Making Process in relation to Coca-Cola drinks will be discussed. Then, there will be an examination of how input factors from the Buying Decision-Making Process Model such as, the companys marketing mix and individual factors such as attitudes might have influenced consumers behaviour in the buying process and enabled Coca-Cola to be successful throughout the years, even during the recession. Additionally, the influence of reference groups would be discussed as it is purported to be another attribute to the brands success during the recession. It is worthy to note that, according to the National Bureau of Economics Research the recession started in December 2007 in the US. However, countries could have experienced a recession at different times (imf.org). Therefore, the study is based on 2007-2010 time period. 2.1 Coca-Colas History and Performance Review When carbonated water is added to a syrup made from Coca leaf extracts, Cola nut, sugar and citric acid, the refreshing Coca-Cola drink is produced. Its name was derived by combining its two main ingredients Coca and Cola. The Coca-Cola formula was concocted by a passionate physician and chemist named Dr. John Stith Pemberton in 1886. Dr. Pembertons goal was to invent the ultimate medicine and tasty drink all into one. (Business Heroes, 1998) Therefore, Coca-Cola was initially marketed as a valuable brain tonic and a cure for all nervous affections such as headaches, neuralgia, hysteria as well as a delicious, refreshing and invigorating beverage(curezone.com). Although, some ingredients have been added or removed to enhance the drink but not to change the taste too much, up to this day it is not certain if the Coca-Cola Company still includes Coca leaf extracts. The Coca-Cola drink was sold for 5 cents a glass and only an average of 9 glasses of Coca-Cola were sold daily in the 1880s. Many years later, the Coca-Cola Company produces gallons of syrup daily and nearly 1.6 billion times a day, people around the world enjoy one of our beverages (Coca-Cola Annual report, 2008). The concentrates and syrups that are manufactured are then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers in more than 200 countries. Coca-Cola has become a multi-million dollar profit-making company and has been able to continue that trend even during challenging economic times. Although according, Brian Morgan, Beverages Industry Analyst, global value sales had declined in the soft-drinks market (Euromonitor blog, 2010). Coca-Cola was affected insignificantly by the global decline and this was reflected in its financial reports. The Coca-Cola Companys consolidated Net Operating Income before Interest and Taxes (NIBIT) had increased from $7,252m in 2007 to $8, 446m in 2008. However, there was a 2.5% decline in (NIBIT) from 2008-2009. The impact of the decline was insignificant because of the companys well balanced portfolio, well-known brand and innovative strategies. Another indicator that the company was doing well during the recession was the steady increase in cash dividends payments. The cash dividend payments to shareholders in 2007, 2008, and 2009 were $1.36, $1.52, $1.64 respectively (Coca-Cola Annual Review, 2009). The sales of Trademark Coca-Cola, which includes Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero and Diet Coke/ Coca-Cola light, are what fuel our business (Coca-Cola Annual report 2009, p.16). Trademark Coca-Cola has seen volume unit growth in 2009 for many of its markets around the world including Vietnam (27%), India (25%), Pakistan (18%) and Nigeria (11%) to name a few (Coca-Cola Annual report, 2009). Solid performance has been reported for Coca-Cola in its 2010 third quarter and year-to-date company report. As at the ending of October, Operating Net Revenues had increased by 5%. Moreover, the worldwide unit case volume had increased 5%. This volume growth was led by the brand Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola Year-to-Date report, 2010). Please see Appendix 1 2 for more indicators of the Coca-Cola Companys resilience to the 2007-2010 economic down-turn. 3.0 Discussion and Analysis 3.1 Routinised Response Behaviour Researchers have identified three main levels of consumer decision making. They are extensive problem solving, limited problem solving and routinised response behaviour levels (Schiffman et al 2007, p.526).Consumers would have engaged in a routinised response behaviour level with regards to Coca-Cola drinks. This is because the trademark brand has been in the beverage market for years and so consumers would have had experience with it and other brands. Also, consumers would have established a set of criteria well enough to evaluate the Coca-Cola brand against other brands (Schiffman et al, 2007). Additionally, due to the low-involvement of consumers in purchasing Coca-Cola drinks, consumers are able to make quick decisions and they would have then relied heavily on heuristics, its prices, packaging and their familiarity with the brand. This would then have led to people purchasing Coca-Cola out of habit and in some cases automatic purchases. Therefore, it can be argued that because of the difficulty in breaking their habitual purchases and the little thought that goes into buying Coca-Cola drinks, consumers continued to buy Coca-Cola during the recession which made Coca-Cola immune. 3.2 Effective Marketing Mix Another reason why Coca-Cola was resilient to the recession could have been because of the companys effective marketing mix. The Coca-Cola Company has been able to build its brand throughout the years by using the right blend of marketing mix for the Trademark Cola-Cola drinks. Coca-Colas marketing mix efforts will now be discussed. Product Some people argue that the taste of Coca-Cola makes it very popular and gives it a competitive advantage. Moreover, people have demonstrated their love for the taste in different ways. One well-known incident was when consumers rejected the new formula of Coca-Cola, the New Coke. The company was compelled to bring back the original taste of Coca-Cola (Fortune, 1985). Coca-Colas trademark is its product name Coca-Cola in a unique white script against a bright red background. This assists customers to easily identify the brand in groceries, shops and advertisements. The Coca-Cola drink is packaged in aluminium cans, glass and plastic bottles in a range of sizes; 2L, 1.25L, 500ml and 330ml. Although variations have been made to the shape of the glass and plastic bottles, The contour bottle remains the signature shape of Coca-Cola today and was chosen for its attractive appearance and original design (Coca-Cola Heritage Timeline, 1905-1918). Price Coca-Cola is priced slightly higher to the prices of non-popular cola brands such as store brands but the same to main competitor, Pepsi. For instance, in England the price for a 2L bottle of Coca-Cola and Pepsi is  £1.66 while a 2L ASDA store brand cola is  £0.47 (asda.com). During 2007-2010 the price of Coca-Cola was increased for some regions like North-America due to increase commodity costs for the bottlers and to other recessionary pressures. (Coca-Cola Company Annual Report, 2008 p.47) Promotions Advertising Coca-Cola makes large investments in promotions and advertising. Advertising costs for 2006, 2007 and 2008 has been $2.6b, $2.8b and $3.0b respectively (Coca-Cola annual report, 2008). In 2007 there were promotions in Europe for Rugby World-cup and for the Christmas holidays (Coca-Cola Annual Review, 2007). There were many point-of-sale promotions world-wide in 2008. Loyalty programs that enable customers to receive free rewards and prizes by collecting points became very popular in 2009. For instance, the North-American market has the my coke rewards and the European market has the coke zone websites particularly set up for these promotional programmes (Coca-Cola Annual Review, 2009). Coca-Colas creative, colourful, animated and high imagery advertisements become many peoples favourite. Indeed, some of Coca-Cola advertisements have won several awards such as the Golden Award of Montreux, 2007 (Gold Medal) and CLIO Awards, 2007 (Gold) Animation (adforum.com). Place/ Distribution Channels Coca-Cola uses an intensive distribution strategy. Customers can easily access Coca-Cola drinks at their convenience through groceries, shops, malls, vendor machines, universities, work offices, bars and restaurants. Coca-Cola works closely with all constituents of the supply chain to ensure that the distribution process is efficient and effective (coca-cola.com). Additionally, Coca-Cola has even been endorsed by many restaurants including Mc Donalds and other businesses, where a formal agreement is made between the two parties to only sell Coca-Cola drinks. With the Consumer Decision Making Model that was produced by Schiffman et al (2007) in mind, consider this example. When consumers who drink Coca-Cola became thirsty or were out of stock of Coca-Cola at home, a need was recognised which is the first stage of the Process component of the model. The consumers would have then entered the information search stage and would have first drawn on past experiences they had with Coca-Cola drinks before using external sources of information from the Input component of the model, such as the companys marketing communications and socio-cultural influences. Because of Coca-Colas effective marketing mix efforts in the past, the customer would have most likely had good memories and experiences with the drinks. Also, Coca-Colas marketing efforts during the time of the consumers decision making would have played a big role in influencing consumers decisions. As a result, when consumers entered the Output stage, their decision was to re-purchase Coca-C ola. Coca-Cola marketing mix was effective because of its strong impact on the consumers decision making process. Another reason why Coca-Colas marketing mix was effective because it catered for the individual factors of consumers and this made the marketing mix more influential on individual decision making processes of consumers. For instance, Coca-Colas loyalty reward promotions would have appealed to those customers who like to be rewarded for their commitment or the sales promotions for those who were always seeking bargains. The changing of shapes of the bottles and the creative and high imagery advertisements, especially the one ones with the polar bears drinking Coca-Cola, would have appealed to those emotional and impulsive consumers. Also, by getting many businesses to only sell Coca-Cola drinks would have trapped those consumers who do not normally purchase Coca-Cola. The fact that most people would have had less disposable income might have made these marketing tactics more influential on their actual Decision Making Process because peoples need for rewards and stimulation to buy Coc a-Cola and not switch to a cheaper brand would have been greater. 3.3 Commitment to Attitudes It is believed that peoples high level of commitment to their favourable Attitudes towards Coca-Cola drinks was another reason that caused people to continue to purchase Coca-Cola drinks during the recession. Attitude is a persons learned predisposition, tendency to respond to an object in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way (Allport 1935, cited in Professor Jiang 2010 Lecture 5 slides). In relation to Coca-Cola drinks this means that, people were not born with the attitudes that they have towards Coca-Cola. Instead they learned about Coca-Cola from their direct experiences with the drinks, from other peoples opinions and from the companys marketing mix. They used these factors to develop an overall evaluation of Coca-Cola and in so doing formed favourable attitudes towards the drinks. Consequently, people were then motivated by their attitudes to purchase Coca-Cola drinks (Schiffman et al 2007, p.238). The psychologist, Daniel Katz, purported that attitudes exist because they serve a function for the person (Solomon et al 2010, p.275). The function could be a Utilitarian, Value-expressive, Ego-defensive or Knowledge function. For instance, people who like the taste of the Coca-Cola drinks and who derives pleasure from it would have an attitude that serves the Utilitarian function. Value-expressive attitudes would be seen in those people who drink Diet Coke because it may convey that they are dieting and watching their figure to others (social identity) or because they personally believe its the healthier choice of drink (personal values). Coca-Colas efforts to provide more factual and meaningful nutritional information on their packaging would form attitudes that serve the knowledge function in those people who need such information in selecting products. Attitudes change when it no longer gives satisfaction to its related need state (Katz, 1960 p.177). Coca-Colas marketing mix efforts has been consistently satisfying the needs of consumers and so consumers became committed to their attitudes towards Coca-Cola. For example, Coca-Colas total quality management systems ensure that every bottle on the production line tastes the same so that peoples Utilitarian function would always be satisfied. There have been misperceptions and rumours of Coca-Cola drinks including soft-drinks cause Kidney stones or Coca-Cola can be used as household cleaners. In order to provide clarity and consistency for individuals with knowledge function needs, Coca-Cola posted responses on its website to these rumours. Moreover, the company had spent $9m to promote active healthy lifestyle programs in 2008 (coca-cola.com). This also illustrates Coca-Cola satisfying the needs of consumers which would then lead to consumers becoming highly committed to their attitudes. According to Katz (1960) attitudes consist of affective or feelings and cognitive or belief components. Attitudes can be related to behaviour which makes it a third component. Another consequence of Coca-Colas efforts consistently satisfying consumers needs was that it strengthened the affective component of consumers attitudes and reinforced the beliefs they had towards Coca-Cola. The result was people holding onto to their favourable attitudes towards Coca-Cola which was then the driving force of their purchase behaviour. It is worthy to note that the results of many studies have shown a very low correlation between a persons reported attitude towards something and their actual behaviour towards it (Solomon et al 2010, p.290). Researchers found that events, circumstances or social pressure can interfere with a persons planned or expected behaviour. For instance, people may like Coca-Cola but do not buy it because of persuasive campaigns from health organisations that say soft-drinks are unhealthy (social pressure). Therefore, it can then be debated that although people may have had favourable attitudes towards Coca-Cola this may not have caused them to purchase Coca-Cola drinks during the recession or any time. It is believed that this happened because people were not strongly committed to their attitudes. It can then be argued that Coca-Colas marketing strategies have been encouraging people to remain highly committed to their attitudes towards Coca-Cola. Once consumers are very committed to their at titudes, it would become very difficult for external influences to change their beliefs or feelings for the product and by extension change their behaviour. 3.4 Reinforcement of loyalty through Reference Groups Coca-Cola has used the internet to create a virtual community where its fans from all over the world can meet other fans, chat about various topics and reminisce about Coca-Cola memories. Although Coca-Cola has an official website (coca-colaconverstaions.com) to facilitate this community, the website provides links to Twitter and Facebook so that fans can use those forums if they desired. Additionally, there is a Coca-Colas Collectors Club for people who are very nostalgic and who enjoy collecting Coca-Cola merchandise. The club has more than 5000 members from all over the world. Several conventions and meetings are held annually and monthly newsletters are published. There are also swap meets and other social events that enable members to share their interests with others (coca-cola.com). Researchers find that people within brand communities feel more positive about the product (Solomon et al, 2010 p.392) when they interact with other people who share similar interests in the same product and when they participate in social events held for them. Their brand loyalty is enhanced and the chance of them switching to competing brands that are as good or even better is very low. Moreover, these community members do not only become emotionally involved with the product, but genuinely concerned with the welfare of the company as well (Solomon et al, 2010, p.392). Coca-Cola has been the main sponsor of big events for many years such as NASCAR racing, Youth Olympics Games, FIFA World cup and Special Olympics (coca-cola.com). These different events bring together people who share common interests and these people make up sub-cultural groups within society. Attitudes, beliefs and certain behaviours would be adopted faster by these groups because of their cohesiveness and group members desire to share one identity. By Coca-Cola sponsoring the events for these groups often, Coca-Cola would have become accepted and liked by these groups. Coca-Cola would have relied on the social power of these groups to remind and reinforce the brand. As a result, members within these groups would have been motivated to purchase Coca-Cola as long as they were active members of these groups in order to fit in. Therefore, the presence of Coca-Colas brand communities both virtual and those that meet face-to-face had strengthened peoples brand loyalty and this enabled Coca-Cola to maintain a high retention of consumers during the recession. Also, the influence of sub-cultural groups could have contributed to Coca-Colas continued success during the recession. Conclusion/Recommendations Coca-Colas has maintained a strong brand image and financial performance for many years, even during the recession. The reasons for this success could have been because of consumers habitual purchase behaviour, successful execution of marketing strategies by the company, consumers commitment to their favourable attitudes towards Coca-Cola drinks and the presence of reference groups. These factors simultaneously impacted consumers actual decision making process which then caused them to continue to purchase Coca-Cola. It is becoming more difficult to predict consumer behaviour because sociological factors, circumstances and events interfere with consumers intended behaviour (Schiffman et al, 2007). Coca-Cola has built a secret research facility at its headquarters and this shows that the company is aware of the importance of understanding consumer behaviour. Were spending a lot of time trying to understand shopping and shopping psychology, says Joe Tripodi, Coca-Colas chief Marketing Officer (CNBC 2009). It is apparent that Coca-Cola has been able to build an extremely strong brand loyalty for its drinks. Therefore, the company should continue with its innovative strategies and continue its research into why and when people purchase their products. The company should also continue using their websites and peoples blogs to get feedback from consumers about beliefs and feelings towards the companys products and strategies. One caveat for the company is that it should never become arrogant and think that consumers will always have that strong brand loyalty for Coca-Cola. Appendix I SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA Year Ended December 31, (in millions except per share data) 2009 2008 2007 2006 SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS Net operating revenues $30,990 $31,944 $28,857 $24,088 Net income attributable to shareowners of The Coca-Cola Company $6,824 $5,807 $5,981 $5,080 PER SHARE DATA Basic net income $2.95 $2.51 $2.59 $2.16 Diluted net income $2.93 $2.49 $2.57 $2.16 Cash dividends $1.64 $1.52 $1.36 $1.24 BALANCE SHEET DATA Total assets $48,671 $40,519 $43,269 $29,963 Long-term debt $5,059 $2,781 $3,277 $1,314 Appendix II PERFORMANCE AT A GLANCE 2007 2008 2009 22.7 23.7 24.4 UNIT CASE VOLUME (in billions) 2007 2008 2009 $7,252 $8,446 $8,231 OPERATING INCOME BEFORE INTEREST TAXES (in millions) 2007 2008 2009 $7,150 $7,571 $8,186 OPERATING CASH FLOW (in millions)

Advertising Essay examples -- essays research papers

Billboards, signs, radios, newspapers, television, and internet are main instruments that we as society see or use everyday and advertisers use as channels to advertise to society. Advertising has a major role in businesses and advertising is a business in itself. How else would businesses get their name and product or service out to the consumer by efficient means and time? A business may create a product and within a couple days reach consumers across the nation to sell that product. Without advertising businesses would not expand into nationwide companies, they would only exist as bricks and mortars in towns where they exist and the community knows them. Without advertising competition would only exist between companies by positive feedback of consumers and their price. Without advertising our society would move at a snails pace to grow. Spending would be minimal as well as sales. Advertising creates more business to be done and more spending to be done. Furthermore, advertising is a paid link between the business and the consumer to inform and persuade them about a product or service to promote consumer sovereignty of products available to the consumer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To understand the disputes and arguments of advertising, the definition of advertising has to be established. Advertising happens to be anything that distributes a message to another to inform or persuade. A garage sale sign pinned on a tree is a form of advertising. But to keep it from a business standpoint, advertisements are â€Å"paid, nonpersonal communication forms used with persuasive intent by identified sources through various media† (Commerce and Morality p43). In order to make advertising unique from announcements and other types of information, advertising main purpose is to inform and persuade to consumers to go out and buy the service or product. The advertisers have a general knowledge of who their target audience is, but do not know the individual that exist within the target audience. â€Å"They [advertisements] appeal to unknown individuals† (Commerce and Morality p43). For example, advertisers may target teenagers to sell a new hip shoe. Advertisers will have hip teenagers to model the product instead of mother or father figures to identify with the target audience. So on the whole, the advertisers may touch the target audience, but each individual in the target aud... ...m or her to buy something than himself or herself. Coca cola is one of the biggest soft drink companies. The amount of times I will see some form of advertisement of Coca Cola would be less than five times in a day. Is this a lot? The amount I will see a movie advertisement is less than ten times in a day, which involves two and a half minutes of my twenty four hour day, and that is being generous. Consumers should reevaluate what they claim.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall consumer sovereignty is not hindered by advertising. Advertising creates more choices for consumers to consider which product they most desire. Consumer sovereignty exists for a consumer if he or she wishes. Many consumers fall into the trap of having to spend money, and right then an advertisement comes along which causes them to buy something. The root of buying products starts with the consumer themselves not the advertisement. Advertising does not control the consumers on what they buy; advertising merely informs them on what they can buy. Consumer sovereignty goes hand in hand with advertising to create an economic system for consumers to obtain products that they wish and for businesses to flourish.

Whirlpool Europe

Whirlpool Europe Harvard Business School Case Study 9-202-017 The introduction of an Enterprise Resource System (ERP) [pic] ANSWER TO QUESTION 1: The Enterprise Resource Planning System is a cross-functional information system that represents an important development for Whirlpool and an important area of activity for the information management function. Instead of focusing on the information processing requirements of business functions, ERP software focuses on supporting the business processes involved in the operations of a business.The introduction of enterprise-wide computer networking makes it possible to control all major business processes within a single software design. ERP systems are commonly composed of four major parts, covering accounting, manufacturing, sales and human resources. This forces organizations to operate along business processes. Three activities that need to be carried out in order to try to match supply and demand, with which ERP system helps: 1. Forecas t demand 2. Plan the level of capacity that the operation is likely to need to meet the forecast demand, both in the long and the short term. . Control the use of that capacity. This involves the allocation of people, equipment and other resources to the various work tasks to ensure the smooth running of the operation in the short term. There is a number of benefits that Whirlpool foreseen to gain, from the introduction of an ERP system, in various tangible and intangible areas. Observable tangible benefits come from lowering costs for data communication and telecommunication. In addition, there are intangible benefits associated with improved flow of information throughout the organization.However, increased user satisfaction and response times compensate the system complexity and potential data inconsistencies. Being an integrated solution, ERP, grants benefits from increased efficiency, and improved quality, productivity and profitability. ERP software penetrates functional depar tments and can be extended along the supply chain to suppliers and customers. The ERP system, being an industrial software, helps a business manage the important functions of its business, including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service and tracking order.Hence, a smoother and more transparent flow of all of these activities will mainly enhance monitoring of the supply chain. The following table reflects a smooth presentation of Whirlpool’s foreseen benefits: |Benefits |Description of expectations upon implementation of the ERP system | |Working Capital Reduction |Make its supply chain more transparent and efficient. | | |As a result, eliminate 8 days sales of inventory (DSI) of allocated and reserved unites, 9 days of transit and 3 obsolete. | |Reduce 12 days of inventory in each wave. | |Revenue and Gross Margin |Increase product availability by: | |Increase |making the supply chain more visible a nd | | |integrating sales forecasting and inventory management. | | |Enable the company to realize an increase in unit sales equal to 25% of the improvement in product availability. | |The incremental sales would contribute to increasing the profitability of Whirlpool Europe. | | |A 0. 25% gross margin increase by the second year after implementation. | |Benefits |Description of expectations upon implementation of the ERP system | |Other Cost Savings |Simplify the processing and management of customer orders. | | |Reduce the 79 order desk employees by 18%, at an average cost of $40,000 per year per employee. | |Simplify the accounting function and result in a 15% reduction in the 60 finance employees. Expected cost saving was | | |$45,000 per year for each employee that was eliminated. | | |Reduce inventory, thus warehouse space could be reduced by 15%. | | |Reduce the number of returned units by eliminating shipping errors. | | |Reduce bad debt expense and information system expens es. |From Exhibits 3 and 4, we can also analyse the following: †¢ The â€Å"West† wave enjoys the lowest DSI; as a result, it enjoys the highest rates of units sold, revenue and accordingly margin. Unfortunately the product availability percentage is low at this stage –relatively speaking- (only 73. 5%). Whirlpool targets 92% of product availability with the introduction of the ERP system. †¢ The â€Å"Central† wave has the highest DSI, thus it is most likely to be the number one beneficiary from the DSI reduction resulting from the introduction of the ERP system. It is logical to notice that the â€Å"West† and â€Å"South† waves will notice benefit of 40% improvement by the second year of implementation; this is simply because they have already enjoyed the two lowest rates of DSI even prior to introduction of the ERP system. Similarly, the â€Å"Central† and â€Å"North† waves would notice the improvement of 40% immediatel y on implementation; again this is because they both had had the highest DSI prior to introduction of the ERP system. ANSWER TO QUESTION 2:Whirlpool has carefully considered the capital expenditures, depreciation time of capital equipment as well as implementation requirements and costs (employee training, creation, testing and documentation of new business process and installation of the ERP software). This logical calculation helps out the company to evaluate the results of introducing the ERP system and estimate its profit prior to making the decision, because such innovative decisions must be profitable; and if not, they should not be introduced.Whirlpool has done a long-term capacity planning, which is concerned with decisions that take a long time to implement, and with large amount of capital investment, such as installing the ERP system. Whirlpool has carried out operations scheduling by allocating people to processes in order to get the work done, with the following objecti ves: †¢ The product or service is delivered on time †¢ The operation performs smoothly, giving optimum efficiencies †¢ The cash flow involved in the operation is balanced. The following table shows Whirlpool’s Capital Expenditures: [pic]Figures above in US$000 Depreciation = 0. 2 million as of the third year, for 5 years The following table shows the Operational Costs: [pic] Figures above in US$000 Taking into consideration the forecasted other expense savings, the operational expenditures would be as shown in the Grand Total below: [pic] Figures above in US$000 From the figures above, we can conclude that Whirlpool would absorb resources and incur costs through balancing out the operational costs against the operational savings, as follows: IT Equipment & Software: Whirlpool will pay high costs for the equipment over the first four years of implementation. It will also buy software license for the first two years; this is for the servers and clients. On top of this comes the license maintenance which starts immediately on the second year of implementation and remains paid on an annual basis. This is extra cost that Whirlpool will have to cover and justify by long-term planning and reaching a point where all this extra cost is paid back. This is explained in the following points. Human Resources: Hiring consultants for the installation and boosting of the system. Number of consultants does not remain the same, but rather reduces over time. Consultants are expected to train staff, thus their cost will end once Whirlpool’s own trained staff continue doing the job. Conclusion: consultant’s cost stops by the fourth year of implementation. †¢ Using current employees, 50 of them, reduces the cost of hiring new ones. Building their capacity at an extra cost is more feasible than hiring and training fresh ones. Operations & Accounting: Ongoing operation and license maintenance costs would increase over time, but this is met by the reductions foreseen through: o Simplifying the processing and management of customer orders. o Reducing the 79 order desk employees by 18%, at an average cost of $40,000 per year per employee. o Simplifying the accounting function and result in a 15% reduction in the 60 finance employees. Expected cost saving was $45,000 per year for each employee that was eliminated. Reducing inventory, thus warehouse space could be reduced by 15%. o Reducing the number of returned units by eliminating shipping errors. o Reducing bad debt expense and information system expenses. From the above, it is obvious that the new operational costs are balanced with the operational savings; thus by the 2005 Whirlpool would cover the operational cost of implementing this system and start benefiting as of 2005 onwards. This is seen in the positive figure under the Grand Total (103). ANSWER TO QUESTION 3: The main highlights of the study are: 1.Capital expenditure: This includes all payment that will be mad e for the project which is in this case the price of the capital equipment and software licenses (see table below). [pic] Figures above in US$000 2. Revenue: which is the inflow of assets such as cash, amount owed to a business by debtors or reduction in abilities that arise as a result of trading operations. In this case revenue increase is expected because of implementing the application. Such increase in the revenue will be a result of integration, error reduction, inventory saving, etc. 3.Cost of goods sold: this is the cost of the goods bought then sold to customers, like transportation, storage, maintenance, etc. 4. Operating expenditures, as in the following table: [pic] Figures above in US$000 The table above shows two contrasting calculations during the implementation of the ERP system: A) A reduction of: – order desk employees (0. 18 X 79 X $40,000) – finance employees (0. 15 X 60 X $45,000) – Warehouse space by 15% – Eliminate shipping errors , reduce returns by (30 X 0. 03 X units sold) – Reduce bad debt expenses – Reduce information systemsB) An addition of: – license maintenance fees to start on 2000 by $0. 1 million each year and increased by 0. 1 each next year, – fifteen consultant in 1999, nine in 2000 and seven in 2001, four for following year (average monthly cost is $15,400 X 12 month X number of consultants), and – three person task on 2000 till 2004 on $600,000 a year. 5. Depreciation expense: This is the portion of the cost of fixed assets that has been used up in generating revenues recognized during a particular period. The depreciation rate is 20% over five years (capital expenditure X 0. ). We have to be careful to stop depreciating capital expenditure after 5 years from the year capital expenditure was added, i. e. capital expenditure of 2000 is depreciated by 2005. 6. Taxable earnings: Which is the Sum of Revenue – (Cost of goods sold + Operation Expenditure + D epreciation Expense). 7. Taxes: Each company has to pay their own tax on profit, the calculation of the tax would be based on the profit of the year (Taxable Earning X Profits Tax Rate). 8. Earnings after taxes: This is the profit minus taxes to be paid which means (Taxable Earning – Taxes). . Add back depreciation: This is the same amount of depreciation but in positive value. 10. Cash flow from operations: This is equal to earnings after taxes + the add back depreciation. 11. Reduction in need for Inventory: This is the result of DSI reduction by 12 days, and as a result warehouse space reduction of 15%. 12. Cash flow: This is the total of the transactions (Capital expenditure + cash flow from operation + Reduction in need for inventory). This is the Profit amount which starts in 2001. 13.Discount Factor: This is the rate applied to future cash flows to derive the present value of those cash flows (1/(1+r)n) where r is discount ratio and n number of years. This factor keeps reducing over time. 14. Discounted cash flow: This is the value of cash flow in the coming years which equal to (Cash flow X discount factor) = Present value for that year. 15. Sum of discounted cash flow: This is the NPV (Net Present Value) which is the total discounted cash flow from 1999 till 2007. NPV is a method of investment appraisal based on present value of all relevant cash flow associated with the project.To decide whether the project is acceptable (profitable) we check the NPV (sum of discounted cash flow). In our case it is a positive figure with 23. 883, which means that the project is acceptable and profitable. Recommendation: I recommend Whirlpool corporation to proceed with the implementation of the proposed ERP system, because the NPV is positive (>0), which means that the project will add income to the company starting from the third year (2001) onwards, and as a total cash flow after taking consideration the risk, inflation and interest rates included in the discounted factor.Please double click on the table below to see how all the calculations above are incorporated. [pic] ANSWER TO QUESTION 4: Please double click on the table below to see how all the changes are incorporated. [pic] From the changes we’ve incorporated in the sheet above, we can conclude that: The higher we increased the discount rate the more we reduced the NPV: †¢ When the discount rate was 9%, the NPV was 23. 883. †¢ When the discount rate was raised to 15%, the NPV went down to 5. 824. The IRR is the discount rate which will give us an NPV of exactly zero.If the discount rate were zero, the NPV would be the sum of the net cash flows. No account would be taken of the time value of money. However, if we assume increasing discount rates, there is a corresponding decrease in the NPV of the project. When the NPV line crosses the horizontal axis there will be a zero NPV and the point where it crosses is the IRR. From several trials on the amended sheet, the following table and charts are resulted: |Discount Rate |NPV | |9% |23,883 | |15% |5,824 | 23% |1,560 | |25% |712 | |27% |(29) | From the table and chart above, as well as from excel calculations we notice that NPV equals zero when the IRR equals 26. 82. On the other hand, since the IRR here is 26. 82%, which is > cost of capital (15%), we conclude that the project is accepted. Recommendation: I would recommend Whirlpool to consider the low discount rate if it seeks good return on its investment; otherwise the high discount rate would cause failure of the project. Answer to Question 5: Business graduate skills outcome |Example of how work on this TMA has contributed to my |Self-assessment of current level of skill – | | |skills development |high/medium/low; any actions to be taken | |Using examples and analysing case studies to enhance |Through referring back to the module as well as the |Medium, more analysis would result in higher | |understanding, support conclusion s and illustrate |accounting text book, I was able to understand a lot of|understanding. |issues concerning business functions in |accounting concepts, even prior to the lecture itself. | |organisational contexts | | | |Problem solving and decision making |When calculating the depreciation, a lot of trials took|High | | |place before finding the lost hook, which was the | | | |depreciation over 5 years is calculated from the first | | | |year expenditures are spent! | |Understanding the way in which numbers are used in |I had an idea on this before, but not with such |Medium, more accounting practices are | |the core business functions |details; this TMA has enhanced and broadened my |required | | |understanding. | | |Interpreting spreadsheets for managing numbers and |From this TMA I learned how the various calculations |Medium, it took me a while to come up with | |quantitative analysis |and formulas are made and how substantial accountants |the calculations in the spreadsheet and | | |are in the decision making process. |linking them together. | ———————– [pic]

Women Past and Present

Women Past and Present During the 20th century, women in general was limited, however women are now in a much better position than before. We, as women, especially those of us who live in liberal parts of the world, often take for granted the rights and benefits, which we have. We forget that in other times, women were not considered to be equal to their male counterparts; they were considered to be helpless subordinates to the men with whom they lived. Though we do not often consider it, we owe much of these everyday freedoms to women of the past, who struggled and pushed for equal rights and recognition.Their determination helped us gain increased education, economic status, and political rights, among other things. In the colonial times, the Colonial women’s role in the family was the keeper of the home, and that was all she was really allowed. She made the family’s clothes, she provided a home cooked meal, and took care of the children, all of this by herself until the female children were old enough to be of use. She could do nothing for her sons, they were to be submissive on the farther, or be apprenticed out. She was, in fact, her husbands slave.Women were seen as weak human beings. They were not allowed to have other aspirations. She had no say in anything that went on; she could only follow her husband’s commandments. This male dominated society dictates that women be inoffensive and obedient and is financially dependent of the husband. Woman’s role was strictly limited to home and family. As for the question of free time, what free time? If they by chance had any, they usually baked, or got some mending done or make candles. Basically, more tasks. â€Å"Idle hands are the devil’s tools,† is what they were encouraged to believe.During the nineteenth century, women were viewed as homemakers, not able to perform in society with men. They were degraded by men to believe that they were worth almost nothing, only w orthy of bearing children. This superfluous male domination lead too many women feeling trapped in their own homes, unable to escape from the confinements placed on them by their husbands. However things did change, women started working outside of their home. Besides farm work, their jobs were mainly in traditional women’s fields such as teaching, nursing, and domestic service.Textile mills and clothing factories are traditional employers of women. They worked in these factories and war-related industries while World War II was being fought, and many of them enjoyed the opportunity to work outside the home. By the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century improvements aided in giving women more rights, and educational and occupational opportunities. The growth of commercial laundries and expanding production of clothing, processed foods, and other household items relieved women of many tasks and created hundreds of jobs for them outside the hom e.Manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, banking, and services grew rapidly in the early 20th century. The success of many of these ventures depended on women. Middle-class women had it much easier than lower class women. More opportunities, more advancement, and more respect. When they did accept women the numbers were limited because women lacked the education to be prepared for any type of higher learning. Other women found jobs in rudimentary school teaching, managing clubs for poor youth, poor young women and schools for infants.Women during this time were beginning to see that not only did they belong in the home, but they could also find a role in the workplace. Today, women study subjects of personal interest, they seek degrees that match their talents and aspirations. Once they began to go to college, they began to challenge society’s expectations as well as their personal experiences. The major detonator of the women’s movement was education, changing the woman’s role in society from passive to an active and vital force. Once women began receiving higher education, there was no turning back.Occupations were limited but women began to filter into the male-dominated world. Before this time women were uneducated and not capable to vote. A four-year college education is likewise common as women go to earn their master’s degree and PhD. Yet, for women in the workforce, there are still many cases where barriers exist that may limit their chances of earning that promotion. They still have a hard time with power and they have a harder time keeping power. In the long run, women became activists pushing for the rights and eventually succeeded.They have much more freedom and equality now, thanks to the women who pushed for equal rights, and it was slowly realized that females have the same capabilities to think and have responsibilities as men. Women today are postponing the role of motherhood and are concentrating more on their careers. If there are any needs that needs to be fulfilled in a woman’s life, this is it; well paying job, being on the executive level and prove that we can also be female dominators. Women in today’s society are focused more on independence.